Posts with «site|engadget» label

Polestar will debut its new electric SUV in October

We got our first, camouflaged glimpse of Polestar's next EV back in December. We'll have to wait until October, however, to see the rest. The company announced on Tuesday that it will officially reveal the Polestar 3 later this fall.

This EV SUV is not only Polestar's first SUV, it's also the company's first vehicle to be produced (at least partially) in the US. What's more, it will be the first of three new models debuting over the next few years as Polestar seeks to put its vehicles in 30 markets by the end of 2023. 

Like the Polestar 2, the 3 will offer 4WD thanks to its dual-motor drivetrain and a 600 km (372 mi) range. It will be built in the US and China, according to the company, with orders opening the same day as the October premiere. There's no word yet on pricing, though production is slated to begin in early 2023.

EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

Europe has reached a deal to make USB-C a common charger for all phones and electronic devices, with the aim to reduce e-waste and inconvenience with incompatible chargers. "Under the new rules, consumers will no longer need a different charging device and cable every time they purchase a new device, and can use one single charger for all of their small and medium-sized portable electronic devices," the European Parliament said in a press release. 

Buyers will also be able to choose whether they want to purchase new electronic equipment with or without a charger. "These new obligations will lead to more re-use of chargers and will help consumers save up to 250 million euro a year on unnecessary charger purchases," the EU wrote. 

Manufacturers have until autumn 2024 to implement the new rule, which covers "mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, earbuds, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers." They'll have a bit longer to adapt the rule for laptops, up to 40 months after the rule goes into effect. 

We have reached a deal on the common charger! 🔌👏

✔️mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, digital cameras & more #USBtypeC
✔️harmonised fast-charging technology
✔️unbundling of sale of chargers from the sale of device

🔴 Press conference at 12.30 CEST ➡️ https://t.co/TCBXxzIEdrpic.twitter.com/29JmeL0nxe

— IMCO Committee Press (@EP_SingleMarket) June 7, 2022

The EU has worked with the industry to reduce the number of mobile phone chargers from 30 to 3 over the last decade, it said last year. The biggest odd one out is Apple's Lightning iPhone port that's used by around 20 percent of devices sold in Europe. Apple has yet to respond to the legislation, but in 2020, said that the push for a universal phone charger would "stifle innovation." 

Another issue that's not completely clear is how the EU wants manufacturers to handle different standards like DisplayPort for video. As for power delivery (PD), the EU simply said that "consumers will be provided with clear information on the charging characteristics of new devices, making it easier for them to see whether their existing chargers are compatible." USB-C version 2.1 supports up to 240 watts of power delivery, up from 100 watts, but there's no clear way to identify how much power a given cable can support. 

The EU throws away 12,000 tons of chargers each year, many unused, according to Bloomberg. At the same time, consumers spend around 2.4 billion euros ($2.8 billion) on standalone chargers not included with devices. The new rules require formal approval the EU's Parliament and Council, which won't take place until after the summer recess. It'll enter into force 20 days after it's published in the EU Official Journal. 

iOS 16 will support Nintendo's Joy-Cons and other game controllers

Yesterday at WWDC 2022, Apple discussed how iOS 16 would improve the gaming experience with updated Metal 3 graphics, Game Center improvements and more. Now, it looks like iOS 16 will offer support for more third-party gaming controllers as well, most notably Nintendo's Joy-Con and Pro controllers, 9to5Mac has reported. 

Developer Riley Testut found that he could play games with Nintendo Switch Joy-Con and Pro controllers on iPhones and iPads with the latest iOS 16 beta release. The update also supports the 8Bitdo, BADA MOGA XP5-X Plus and Logitech F710 Gamepad controllers, according to the internal code spotted by 9to5Mac. 

iOS 16 lets you pair the Joy-Cons as one controller or separately, and you can customize the controls in the Bluetooth settings. You can even dynamically switch between using both Joy-Cons as a single controller or two separate controllers by pressing and holding the screenshot and home buttons. "Apple seriously killed it with this implementation," said Testut. (In a reply to his tweet, another user noted that Apple apparently initiated support for Switch Pro controllers last year with macOS 12.)

It looks like Apple will be able to add support for more controllers without the need to ship a new iOS version, using something called "mobile assets." That's similar to another new feature that allows Apple to automatically issue security updates in between iOS releases. 

<!! iOS 16 natively supports Nintendo Switch Pro Controllers!><br /><br />Can confirm they work perfectly with Delta 😍 <a href="https://t.co/p8u1sdjvTt">pic.twitter.com/p8u1sdjvTt</a></p>— Riles 🤷‍♂️ (@rileytestut) <a href="https://twitter.com/rileytestut/status/1533954250824241153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2022</a></blockquote></div>

Beeline's new bike computer lets you choose between fast, quiet or balanced routes

Beeline's original Velo brought an interesting twist to bike computers with a simple interface and single arrow guidance designed to help you discover your environment. The company has now launched its second model, the Velo 2, that keeps the spirit of the original while introducing a number of key new features like a bigger screen, all-new interface and app-based route planner.

The new model has a 32mm 200x200 TFT LCD screen that's larger than the original to accommodate the extra information displayed. Instead of the original strap, it uses a quarter lock universal mount and is waterproof and shock proof. The battery is charged by a USB-C port and lasts 10+ hours, and you can change settings (even with gloves) using the rocker top mechanism. 

Beeline

Where the original Velo worked more like a compass than a regular GPS, the new model has an all-new turn-by-turn interface that's more like a vehicle heads-up display. To use it, you just type in your desired destination into the Beeline app, and you'll get three options: a fast route, a quiet route or a balanced blend of the two. It then displays turn directions and road details and the direction of your destination. In addition, you can pick your own route using the original model's as-the-crow-flies Compass Mode navigation. 

It offers other display modes showing speed, an odometer, a clock and ETA, and keeps stats of your rides, so you can see your average speeds and other details. Beeline also gathers data and ratings from riders to find the best possible routes, while offering worldwide mapping and navigation via OpenStreetMap. 

Beeline originally launched the Velo 2 on Kickstarter and has so far raised over $400,000 from 5,000 backers. It's now available at Beeline's store for £80 in the UK or $103 in the US. 

iOS 16 will automatically install security fixes

When iOS 16 arrives, iPhone owners won't have to deal with full software installs for the latest security patches. Apple is launching a new feature with the mobile OS called Rapid Security Response, which enables the company to automatically apply security fixes to users' devices in between its standard software updates. It's one of the security features the tech giant has announced at WWDC this year, along with Safety Check that gives users a quick way to see which contacts have access to their location and calendar info. Safety Check will also show them the permissions used by every app on their device. 

As MacRumors notes, iOS 16 will add a new section under Automatic Updates in Settings called "Install System and Data Files." When toggled on, users can get software fixes that aren't tied with full updates, installed automatically and without them having to restart their phones or lift a finger altogether. It's switched on by default upon upgrading to the new OS, so those who don't want automatic installs will have to remember to toggle it off.

Apple's iOS 16 brings a bunch of other new features to iPhones, including a more customizable lock screen, the ability to edit texts and the ability to use Face ID even when the device is in landscape mode. The public beta of the mobile platform will come out in July, though it'll no longer support the iPhone 6S, 7 and the first-gen SE.

Follow all of the news from WWDC right here!

BioWare's quality assurance testers form the first video game labor union in Canada

Bioware's quality assurance testers working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf have voted to form the first unionized workplace for the video game industry in Canada. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401 applied to become the certified bargaining agent for Keywords Studios, the contracting company through which the testers are employed, back in April. Now, Kotaku says the election has resulted in a 16-0 vote in favor of unionization. Before working on the fourth major game in the Dragon Age franchise, they also supported the development of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition and Legacy of the Sith, an expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The testers, who work out of BioWare's Edmonton office, started organizing after Keywords Studios announced that they'll be required to return to office, whereas direct BioWare employees were give more options. Keywords took back its return-to-office order, but the testers told Kotaku that they're working to prevent it from being reinstated and to get the company to increase their pay. At the moment, their base pay is around US$13 an hour, roughly equivalent to the area's minimum wage. They argued that the amount they're being paid isn't commensurate with the skills needed for the job and that BioWare employees doing the same work are being paid a lot more.

The union that's now representing the workers are expected to bargain with the studio's bosses sometime this week. In an email the QA testers sent out, they wrote: "We are excited to move into bargaining with the employer and start towards a more equitable working situation."

In the US, QA workers at Activision Blizzard studio Raven Software voted to unionize last month. That came after they went on strike following layoffs that affected 12 testers and after the studio split the remaining workers among various departments, perhaps in an effort to make unionization efforts hard to organize. Xbox head Phil Spencer announced that Microsoft will recognize the union after the tech giant's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is complete.

Amazon knocks $80 off Anova's Precision Cooker sous vide machine

Father's Day is right around the corner, so you might be sniffing around for the perfect gift for dear ol' dad. If he likes fiddling around the kitchen, then consider giving him a sous vide machine, which helps ensure the perfect medium-rare steak or chicken breasts that are never dry or overcooked. Sous vide machines can be pretty pricey, but thankfully the Anova Precision Cooker is on sale right now; it has dropped to a new price of $139 from its original $220. 

Buy Anova Precision Cooker Nano at Amazon - $139

Cooking via sous vide really just means cooking foods in a water bath. You'd typically place food inside a sealed bag and submerge it in a water-filled vessel. A sous vide machine attached to it essentially regulates the temperature of the water so that the food is cooked low and slow to the desired doneness. 

Anova's Precision Cooker lets you do that easily right out of the box thanks to its on-board controls. It also has WiFi so you can connect it to Anova's companion app, which comes with a plethora of recipes and a handy tutorial in case you need some guidance. 

The Precision Cooker is usually pricier than the Nano, which is what we normally recommend, but it does have a few advantages. It has an adjustable clamp compared to a fixed-position model, and it can fit on thicker vessels (up to 1.2 inches). Plus, it has 1,000 watts instead of the Nano's 750 watts, which means it can heat the water faster as well. Since this deal drops the price of the Precision Cooker down to nearly the same price as the Nano, we think it's absolutely worth the upgrade. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

SEC is investigating Binance over its BNB token

The SEC has reportedly opened an investigation into Binance to find out whether its BNB token was an unregistered security during its 2017 initial coin offering, reportedBloomberg. BNB coins are primarily used to pay transaction fees on Binance, currently the word’s largest crypto exchange. The company is also facing another, separate SEC probe — launched in February — into alleged ties between its founder and two trading firms. The DOJ, IRS and CFTC also opened investigations last year into the company for a number of potential criminal violations, including insider trading and market manipulation.

“As the industry has grown at a rapid pace, we have been working very diligently to educate and assist law enforcement and regulators in the US and internationally, while also adhering to new guidelines. We will continue to meet all requirements set by regulators,” wrote a Binance spokesperson in an email to Engadget in response to a request for comment. Engadget has also reached out to the SEC for comment, and will update if we hear back. 

The SEC over the past few years expanded its crackdown of ICOs for failing to register with the agency before going public. The agency’s specific investigation into Binance also seeks to figure out if Binance.US — an affiliated exchange that launched in the US in 2019 after the latter was banned— is actually a separate entity from the China-based Binance.

Binance reportedly processed at least $2.35 billion in illegal transactions tied to drugs, hacks and fraudulent activity, according to a Reuters investigation published today. The story detailed a number of high-profile hacks of Binance, including a heist from North Korean hacking group Lazarus. Binance in a blog post responded to the Reuters story, writing that it was “rife with falsehoods” and published its email exchange with the news agency. In the exchange, Reuters reporters asked Binance to confirm multiple details from their reporting, including whether the company had taken any action to mitigate any further illegal activity. Based on the published emails, Binance seems to have declined to provide the requested details with Reuters on the record.

“We are sorry that Binance has declined our request for an interview. As we explained earlier, we cannot commit to keeping an entire briefing on background because it would not be ethical for us to withhold important information from an article,” wrote Reuters reporter Angus Berwick in an email to Binance spokesperson Patrick Hillmann.

LG's latest Gram ultraportables feature 12th-gen Intel CPUs and screen privacy tech

As with many other PC manufacturers, LG is gradually updating its laptop lineup with the latest processors from Intel and AMD. On Monday, the same day Apple announced its new M2 MacBook Air, the company refreshed its ultraportable Gram lineup with Intel’s 12th-gen Core CPUs.

LG

As of today, all six models in the family, including the Gram 15 and both the 14- and 16-inch Gram 2-in-1s, come with Intel’s new Alder Lake chips. Additionally, you can now configure the laptops with up to 32GB of 5,200MHz DDR5 RAM. Also new to the lineup is support for PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD drives, with the entire family offering two slots for storage.

Outside of an internal spec bump, the most noteworthy change to the Gram lineup is the addition of LG Glance, a display tool the company added with help from Mirametrix. The technology enables a handful of new features. To start, the laptop's screen will automatically lock when you walk away and blur when the computer notices someone looking at your screen over your shoulder. And if you connect an external display to one of LG’s new laptops, they will also automatically move your cursor to whatever screen you’re currently looking at – which sounds like it would be incredibly jarring. You can see the Glance functionality in action in the video below.

As before, the Grams come with 16:10 displays to give you slightly more screen real estate for productivity tasks. LG is sticking with IPS panels for the entire lineup, with the standard models offering up to 350 nits of brightness and the 2-in-1s maxing out at 300 nits, but they feature a new anti-glare coating for fewer distracting reflections.

LG is also expanding the Gram line to include a 16-inch portable monitor. The 16MQ70 features a 2,560 by 1,600 resolution IPS panel with 99 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut, a 16:10 aspect ratio and a 1,200 to 1 contrast ratio. You can purchase it starting today for $350 through the company’s website. The updated Gram laptop line is also available today, with the 15-inch model starting at $1,199 and the flagship 17-inch variant priced at $1,599 and above.

Amazon knocks $80 off Anova's Precision Cooker sous vide machine

Father's Day is right around the corner, so you might be sniffing around for the perfect gift for dear ol' dad. If he likes fiddling around the kitchen, then consider giving him a sous vide machine, which helps ensure the perfect medium-rare steak or chicken breasts that are never dry or overcooked. Sous vide machines can be pretty pricey, but thankfully the Anova Precision Cooker is on sale right now; it has dropped to a new price of $139 from its original $220.

Buy Anova Precision Cooker Nano at Amazon - $139

Cooking via sous vide really just means cooking foods in a water bath. You'd typically place food inside a sealed bag and submerge it in a water-filled vessel. A sous vide machine attached to it essentially regulates the temperature of the water so that the food is cooked low and slow to the desired doneness.

Anova's Precision Cooker lets you do that easily right out of the box thanks to its on-board controls. It also has WiFi so you can connect it to Anova's companion app, which comes with a plethora of recipes and a handy tutorial in case you need some guidance.

The Precision Cooker is usually pricier than the Nano, which is what we normally recommend, but it does have a few advantages. It has an adjustable clamp compared to a fixed-position model, and it can fit on thicker vessels (up to 1.2 inches). Plus, it has 1,000 watts instead of the Nano's 750 watts, which means it can heat the water faster as well. Since this deal drops the price of the Precision Cooker down to nearly the same price as the Nano, we think it's absolutely worth the upgrade.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.